A/N: Sorry about the wait. Blame college.
Total Drama Island/Action still don't belong to me. Nor do the characters.
(Chris narrating): Last time on Total Drama Quest...Our heroes journeyed through the rugged swamp of Tofino, a fun little watery province. Unfortunately, they didn't get to stay long, as Duncan tricked them and stole Enceladus. They chased him up the Black River, lost him when he jumped into the river and managed to piss off some fisherman. Good job, Courtney.
Luckily (for them), DJ showed up and they were able to pass through the fishing town. DJ's furry friend, the creatively named Bunny, led them through a rocky pass to another tiny town. Along the way, Courtney's shirt was torn and Ezekiel caught his first glimpse of second base. Duncan's not gonna be too happy 'bout that, man.
Speaking of our favorite criminal, he got owned by something he picked up in the river and thrown into his favorite kind of dwelling—a prison. The party met with him and were sent to snatch a blue orb from none other than Izzy and her comrades, Owen and...some guy. I think he might have been an intern on TDA. Who cares, he's dead now.
Out on the ocean between Wüste and Leukonesia, Geoff waged a naval battle against Izzy. And then things got nuts. That intern guy launched Tyler off into the sunset, Ezekiel destroyed Izzy's ship, Duncan appeared out of nowhere to kill that intern dude, Bridgette swam in ice-cold water for the orb and got hypothermia...fun times. But in the end, Geoff was the last man standing, the orb secured. Oh, and it looks like Duncan's gonna rot away in prison.
What ever became of Tyler? Who will take his place? Will Duncan ever get out of Tukto...Tiktako...sigh, that one place? Do you like mystery? Technology? Crazy killer dudes? Then you'll love...
ACT V: OCEAN SIZED DRAMA
...On Total...Drama...Quest!
(Please note that the above is not a guarantee of your enjoyment and I, Chris Maclean, am not liable for any dislike you may have for this act. You can blame a certain law-suit happy CIT for having to read this.)
Into The Blue Again
The man in black ran across the beach, and the soldier followed. Metal armor clanked as he tracked the city's assailant onto the first of many patios suspended upon the ocean's waves. The perpetrator, swift as the wind, leapt a small ribbon of water and crossed into a dark alley between two floating houses. The soldier managed the jump, but would have lost the mysterious man if he had not tripped rounding a corner. Captain Herbert snarled after following the dark stranger out of the alley and nearly straight into a warehouse, its doors wide open. His prey disappeared into the waiting abyss. Herbert watched for several moments, considering the possibility of calling in a squad to deal with the man. But why should he, one of the ten captains of Tofino's military forces, rely on an entire squad to bring down one man, no matter how much damage he had done? The darkness beckoned, and Herbert answered its call.
His metal boots clanked on the stone floor as he dared to tread through the pitch black storage room. His eyes darted around, hoping to find even the slightest trace of a man. He sniffed the air. Corn, fish and gunpowder. Nothing out of the ordinary for this particular warehouse...wait, gunpowder?
In an instant, he realized what was going on. He bolted towards the exit, his chain mail nearly pulling him down as he wheeled about, but whoever he was chasing was a second ahead. The doors slammed shut, leaving Herbert in pitch black. For several seconds, he only heard his own frantic breaths. Then, from outside, a voice said, "Nice try...but all the denizens of hell couldn't stop me now. Lights out..."
Several flames flickered to life, finally casting light on the warehouse's contents. Littered among the sacks of corn, barrels of trout and bales of cotton...small, circular bombs. Each one with a lit fuse. Herbert swallowed, and flung himself at the door, spear first. The lance pierced into the wooden door, but it held. The flames burned away while he stabbed and pounded the doors. The man, from seemingly much further away, called out, "...guerrilla radio. Later."
Herbert took one last glance at the bombs before they went off. No scream came from him—there wasn't any time. There was only fire.
And then nothing.
As it turned out, there was food available at the inn. The party sat around a small table. They ate without speaking, although Geoff's wolfishness made the meal anything but quiet. Once the allure of actual food that wasn't jerky or bread wore off, Courtney asked, "So...what now?"
"Huh?" Geoff grunted, spraying Courtney. Making a mental note not to talk to Geoff when he ate, she scowled and wiped her face. "We got the orb. Should we wait for Duncan, or just go ahead to Tofino?"
"Why go back to that other place?" Geoff asked around a mouthful of food. "I mean...that...oh, man, this is good...wha?"
If not for the platter before her, Courtney would have slammed her forehead against the table in exasperation. Instead, she calmly turned to Bridgette and asked, "What do you think?"
"We're gonna need Duncan," Bridgette replied, poking at her fruit salad. I wish this stuff wasn't so foreign. "He's our only way into Heather's castle, and we're down a man right now. Plus, our boat's toast."
"And how do you figure that?" Courtney snapped, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not exactly an expert, but I'm sure that hole can be fixed."
"We're broke, eh," Ezekiel cut in, not looking away from his books. Both lay open on other side of his untouched plate, and he had been studying them during the entire meal. He continued, "or we will be in a bit. You're gonna force us to buy new clothes, right, Courtney?"
Courtney's mouth snapped shut as she contemplated the benefits of fixing the boat as opposed to ending the eternal stench of blood and swamp. Bridgette sidled closer to him and peered at one of the books and said, "You know, Zeke, you still haven't told me how to use those."
"Oh...well," Ezekiel stammered, blushing slightly. As he broke into a long-winded and dull explanation of how one went about discovering new spells, Courtney sighed and looked down at her plate. And shrieked as Geoff shamelessly stole a sausage from it. "Geoff!"
"What?" Geoff questioned with complete innocence, attempting to hide the chunk of meat in his already overstuffed mouth. Courtney's eye twitched, but she decided to let the theft go. For now. "Nothing. Never mind...but seriously, Geoff. You're supposed to be the leader here. What do we do next?"
"I dunno," Geoff replied with a shrug. "Get someone to join us, I guess. It's gonna be a much less lively party without Tyler..."
"This. Is not. A freaking party," she hissed, pounding the table with each word. The tremors briefly distracted Bridgette and Ezekiel, but they kept right chatting once they figured Courtney's annoyance had nothing to do with them. "This is a quest. This world's future is at stake, Geoff! Like Tyler would say, you have to get your head in—stop that!"
Quick as a snakebite, Geoff's hand launched out to snag a slice of bacon. After deterring him with a slap to the wrist, Courtney scowled and leaned forward, hellfire raging in her eyes. "God damn it, why won't you take anything seriously?!"
"Um...sorry?" Geoff whimpered, cowering away from her glare. The two magic users again paused their conversation to determine that there was no threat to them. Noting with some unease that Ezekiel's voice was becoming livelier, she said, "Now listen. You are the Chosen One, as I'm sure you're well aware of by now. You need to stop goofing off so much. This includes all the time you spend making out with Bridgette. You're supposed to be a hero; start acting like-"
"Spiraalvormige!" Ezekiel crowed, pointing at the wall. A blast of spiraling wind erupted from his fingertip and plowed straight through the wooden barrier. The whirlwind continued on its path, sucking up everything that got in its way: wood, food, plates, a few people trying to eat in peace. It died down by the time it reached the door, depositing everything in a chaotic, painful heap. All of the patrons turned their glares to the rapidly paling prairie boy. Courtney, dumbstruck for a moment, asked, "...Zeke?"
"I thought it would just create a small whirlwind right in front of me, eh!"
Bridgette glanced nervously at the advancing crowd. "Guys? Run."
"Well, that went pretty well, eh," Ezekiel muttered to himself as he approached a small shop, idly fingering his pocket of gold coins. "Except for the spell. But hey, it seems like a good one. I should probably be finding spells for Bridge, though..."
He entered the small building, checking his other pocket for the fourth time. Yep, his toque was still there. He had pocketed at Courtney's behest, since the people from the hotel were no doubt looking for them and the hat was easily distinguishable. Courtney demanded the group go out and buy new clothing, a move that not only would help conceal them for any pursuers (she insisted that no one had gotten a good look at their faces) but would also end their lingering smell. With his clothes being relatively fresh compared to the others, Ezekiel had other ideas for his allotment of money. Brushing his rather untamed brown hair of his face, he eyed the contents of the store. Aside from the usual herbs and antidotes and such, there wasn't much the party needed. After spending most of his gold on a bunch of the foul leaves, he plodded towards the exit. He heard a scream from outside, something that normally would have put him on alert. However, this shout was very recognizable. And someone manages to piss off Courtney. Sheesh, she's like a bomb, eh.
Once outside, he spied their ship and the enraged CIT beside it. He had no idea what she was saying, and frankly, he didn't want to know. As he made his way back to her, his mind wandered a bit. I really hope she can come to trust me, eh. I know it probably looks like I'm trying to take Geoff's girl, but...she's just my friend, eh. Courtney's probably not gonna accept that any time soon, though.
His stomach rumbled, reminding him of the one thing thing he missed that morning. "Oh man, why'd I study, eh?"
Bridgette smiled at the deep blue jacket. Perfect. It saddened her to replace the familiar turquoise hoodie, as one would expect; the coat had seen her through two seasons of that maddening show, as well as the equally maddening journey to that point. But it had reached its end; coated in mud, lined with blood, ripped to shreds. She sighed and fiddled with the gold coins in her pocket as she made her way over to the clerk. As she dropped 32 of the metallic chunks onto the counter, a scream from outside blasted her ears. The clerk jumped so fast that her seat toppled over, spilling her onto the wooden floor, but Bridgette just rolled her eyes. Ugh. Why can't Courtney go ten minutes any more without erupting?I swear if she really intends to run for office some day, she needs to get a hold on her temper. I want to know why she's like this, but since she won't tell us...
...She's really unfair to Zeke, too. He's a nice guy, but Courtney doesn't seem to see it. I'll have to convince her he's just a friend. Sighing again, Bridgette took her new clothes over to what she
assumed was a changing room, leaving the old lady to fend for herself. I hope Geoff's doing okay. I
wonder if he's found a new vest yet...
Geoff's mind wasn't on vests. Or any other kind of clothing. He perused the various foods in another shop, drool seeping out the side of his mouth. The delicious scents of various pastries, meats and other foreign delicacies called to him, enticed him, demanded his allotment of the party's coinage...something on the far end caught his eye. Something totally awesome, reddish-pink, cylindrical, in between two buns...Geoff's jaw hit just about hit the floor. "Dude! You have hot dogs?"
The clerk nodded slowly, highly disturbed by the party boy, if not downright offended by his existence. The smelly teen began grabbing everything he could reach, with special emphasis on the hot dogs, and began stuffing them haphazardly into a bag. Where he got the bag from, the clerk had no idea. He threw his head down against the counter and mumbled about overzealous customers while Geoff continued his rampage. "Ooh, need some of this for Bridge, and this looks good, and oh wow, that smells great..."
Courtney seethed at the entirely random soldier she had stopped. And then proceeded to scream at. "What do you mean, I can't see Duncan?! I need to see him, don't you understand?"
"I'm sorry, ma'am," the guard responded, trembling a bit. He wished he could be anywhere but with that particular loon. "I'm not allowed to-"
"Get out of my way," Courtney snarled, pushing him out her way as she headed towards the dungeon. As she stormed across the dusty road, Ezekiel emerged from one of the near-identical buildings spread around. As he jogged towards her with a friendly wave, she set her anger on him. "I told you to get new clothes! What were you thinking?"
"That my clothes are fine, eh," Ezekiel replied with a shrug, unaffected by her harsh greeting. "Only got a couple holes from the pass."
"That's not why-" the CIT began, but Bridgette suddenly emerged from between two huts. "Hey, Courtney, Zeke. What set her off this time?"
"Never mind, I'll tell you when Geoff shows up," Courtney snapped, marching onward. "And thanks for actually following my advice, Bridgette."
The surfer shrugged, struggling to keep with her friend's pace. "I needed new clothes. And can you please slow down? Zeke and I can hardly keep up. Where are you going anyway?"
"The dungeon. We're getting Duncan...out...quick, hide!"
Courtney grabbed both of her companions and flung them to the side of a building, out of view from the street they had just been on. Ezekiel tried to grumble a protest, but Courtney silenced him with a finger. She peered around the edge of the shop. A small gaggle of patrons from the inn, accompanied by soldiers, made their way up the street. One of the civilians—who Courtney now recognized as the innkeeper—looked their way, and Courtney wasn't able to pull her head back fast enough. She held her breath, not even daring to look back at them. She heard their faint, indistinguishable murmuring and hoped they hadn't recognized her. Unlikely, she knew—like Ezekiel, she still wore the same clothes she had at the inn. And then, to her surprise, the group came into view, walking steadily away from them. Somehow, she hadn't been recognized. She exhaled and slowly turned to face her companions...
Bridgette screamed as someone cupped her eyes from behind and shouted in jovial voice, "Guess who, Bridge!"
Geoff's grin faded as Courtney and Ezekiel whipped fully around, the prairie boy producing one of his books from...somewhere. He couldn't tell where, though. Courtney opened her mouth to speak, to tell him to shut up, to probably hurl an insult, but the retreating innkeeper beat her to the punch. "There! That's them!"
Geoff blinked as his friends rushed past him into the alley. It took a second to recognize the group chasing them. Once he caught sight of the innkeeper's face, he too bolted with a shout. Courtney winced and growled, "Why are you still wearing that stupid pink vest? Are you trying to get caught? I told you you needed-"
"Sorry, geez," Geoff gasped, rounding a building and heading out into the open streets, pursuers still close behind. "I just thought we needed food, and-"
"Food? Food? You...wasted our money on...food?" Courtney spat, starting to heave from the sprint. "We...could have just...stolen food..."
"No," Bridgette replied, firm as iron. "We are done stealing and hijacking and...and...and whatever else you plan on doing."
"Oh really? I managed to con a boat repair guy into fixing our ship!"
Her remark earned her three facepalms and further incised those chasing them. Ezekiel pointed at the boat and asked, "So, you're planning gonna escape on the ship?"
"Yep. Told the guy I'd pay after he'd fixed it." Ezekiel's finger shifted slightly to aim at three other men standing before the ship, glaring at them. "I think they heard you, eh."
"What?" Courtney skidded to halt, allowing Geoff to plow right over her, blasting her to the ground while he rolled in front of the shipwrights guarding their boat. He scrambled to sit up, raising Enceladus in front of himself. At the sight of the incandescent weapon, Courtney's eye twitched. It didn't matter that he still wore that stupid pink vest and battered plate; Enceladus was far too recognizable a weapon for any kind of disguise to work. Her eyes darted between the two groups as Bridgette noted the obvious: "Um...we're surrounded."
Geoff rose to his feet, brandishing the cylindrical weapon while silently hoping not to use it. Courtney and Bridgette edged back, drawing closer to the mage. They knew it would only be a moment before Ezekiel acted, blowing away the legions swarming them with a single mutter and a wave of the hand. Wind, water, fire, lightning...all were at his disposable, and it didn't matter which he used as long as the spell worked. The soldiers and citizens would have no idea what hit them, and by the time they had recovered, the party would be long gone, whether on foot or boat...
Ezekiel, books still poking out his back pockets, eyed the two expectant girls. "What? My book's out of energy. Can't cast a spell, eh."
"Urgh!" Courtney squealed, whipping around to snarl at Geoff. The party boy quivered as the wind blew through the town, trembling hands somehow maintaining a grip on the thick weapon. Outside of the angry ring, curious citizens were lining up to see the commotion. This is looking impossible. If we don't do something right now... "Geoff! Deal with these guys already!"
"Um...kay..." Geoff mumbled. Wanting nothing more than to avoid violence, he cleared his throat and said, "Okay, look dudes. I'm sorry about the hotel wall, but we're flat broke right now. And ship dudes, don't worry about fixing the boat. So yeah...just chill, okay guys? It's not that big a deal."
Following her boyfriend's complete failure at diplomacy, Bridgette made a mental note to only allow herself and Courtney to talk the group's way out of problems while the mob's clamor split her ears and gave her a headache. She didn't actually hear any words in the cacophony, but judging by Ezekiel's increasingly white face, nothing good was coming from them. She looked around to find the group's last hope, the only one of them that could possibly fight his way out of this mess (although Courtney looked more than ready to try). Geoff, the Chosen One and wielder of Enceladus, stood frozen next to Bridgette and Ezekiel, looking very much like a trapped rat. As the soldiers began their approach, swords and spears drawn to keep their targets at bay, As Ezekiel's hands shot up, Geoff looked up at Bridgette and whined, "This might be it, babe. I just want..."
He trailed off as she raised an eyebrow, a bit slack jawed. Jabbing a finger at the surrounding soldiers, she barked, "This isn't 'it', Geoff! We need you to take these guys!"
Geoff opened his mouth to protest, combing every corner of his mind for an excuse. Nothing viable came. He had Enceladus, and his friends were in danger; nothing he could come up with could possibly override either of those facts. Sighing as he dragged the weapon up before him, he turned his forlorn gaze towards the advancing soldiers...
"You! Down with the weapon!" Geoff quickly found two spear points poking at him. Hardly daring to breathe his eyes flicked around as he allowed Enceladus to drop from his hands. He took in Bridgette's facade of calmness and Ezekiel's shriveling terror before catching Courtney's face. Her lips were bared back in a snarl, her eyes glinting in the sunlight, her petite fists curled up, but the very edges of her mouth rapidly twitched up and down, trying to smile despite the situation. She's gotta be thinking about seeing Duncan...
And then the purple weapon clanked as it struck the ground, chipping at the stone street, bouncing back to bruise Bridgette's leg. Courtney fixed her glare on him, eyes wider than they had been, silently asking him why he gave up the fight. As if it wasn't obvious enough. Behind the platoon of armed men, the innkeeper lurched forward, greedily eying the fallen weapon. However, one of the soldiers barred his path with an arm and barked, "No! That weapon is now the property of the palace at Yellowknife. You may not touch it."
The wrinkled man nodded and stepped back, quaking. Before the captain could address Geoff, the sound of steel striking stone rang through the street, echoed twice by the jangle of metal on metal. As a second footfall came, all at the scene turned towards the main road to view another soldier, dressed from head to toe in steel armor, making his way towards the group with an inexorable air. The figure's march would have been downright ominous if not for the similarly-dressed creature hopping alongside him. The crowd parted to make way for the large—larger than any of the other men—and shiny warrior and his pet. As a breeze blew dust down the thoroughfare, man and rabbit finally came to halt before the soldiers and the giant peered down at the captain, the abyssal darkness sending tremors down his spine. The giant spoke, a friendly tenor voice that did not suit him. "Hey, man. What've these guys done?"
The innkeeper and shipwright burst at the same time, both eruptions complete with elaborate, overzealous finger-jabbing. "These guys destroyed my inn!"
"That witch tried to swindle me outta money!"
"Hundreds of years of history! I demand punishment!"
"I demand a public hanging!"
"Really? I mean, I know it costs a lot to repair ships, but..."
"Okay, maybe a little too far."
Both silenced themselves nearly as quickly as they started, noting the various odd looks they received. The large soldier paused a moment, presumably to roll his eyes, before asking, "Hey, Geoff, man? What happened?"
"Uh, well," Geoff began, readjusting his hat, "Ezekiel accidentally destroyed a wall of the inn with a totally awesome new spell, and Courtney tried to get our boat fixed without paying."
A metallic crash rang out, jolting people in nearby buildings as the soldier's massive paw smashed against his helm in exasperation. "All right, the palace at Yellowknife will cover the costs for both. I need to talk to these guys."
A dull babble broke out from the crowd as they departed, leaving the large knight, the captain and Geoff's party behind. Behind them, the shipwright began working on the boat once again, throwing spiteful glances at Courtney. The captain looked up into his superior's blank visor and asked, "Sir Devon? What are you doing?"
"Dude's the Chosen One," he said with a loud shrug. "Gotta help him out."
"I...see," the soldier replied, glancing back at Geoff with new-found awe. "Well, then. I trust you'll take care of this then."
After exchanging curt nods, the captain left as the larger knight stepped forward and chirped, "Hey, y'all!"
"DJ, dude!" Geoff cried out as he knelt to pick up Enceladus. As he gripped the weapon, Bunny hopped up and sniffed at him. "And Bunny, too! How are ya, furry dude?"
Courtney couldn't help but smirk as Geoff reached out and stroked the rabbit's helmet. "So, DJ...that's twice you've saved us now. Thanks."
"Naw, don't mention it," DJ said, flipping up his visor and returning her smile. He looked around and asked, "Hey, where's Tyler? Thought he was with you..."
As a melancholy air swept down upon the party, DJ's warm smile quickly faded. Geoff looked up from his attempts to pet Bunny and said, "Uh...well...he's no longer...with us, man. Look, why don't we find a place to talk...hot dogs, anyone?"
"Oh man, for real?" DJ replied as Bridgette finished, shaking his head. "Brother was cool. Sounded like he had a lot of heart." He sighed. "Any idea what happened to the guy who did it?"
"Not really, eh," Ezekiel answered, reaching for his fifth hot dog. "I mean, Duncan went after him, but we don't know how it ended."
"You know, come to think of it," Courtney muttered, looking down at the half-eaten hot dog in her hand, forehead wrinkling in thought, "we don't know why Duncan's not allowed to see anybody...think they might be charging him with...you know...murder?"
"Could be," DJ said with a shrug. He suddenly brightened up, looked over at his furry companion and cooed, "Hey there, Bunny. Could you pwease go to the dungeon and find out why Duncan's there?"
The rabbit spewed out its first taste of mustard (courtesy of Geoff, who was completely bewildered that anything could hate the tangy yellow condiment) and sped off out from underneath the tree towards the prison. Courtney snapped off another bite of her dog and commanded, "Please stop talking like a two-year-old to that rabbit, DJ."
"Ignore her," Bridgette suggested between chomps of her loaf of bread. "Do you think you could get Duncan out of there? We really need him..."
DJ shook his head, resting one hand on the helmet lying in the grass. "Sorry, Bridge. I don't have that kinda power. You'll have to wait for him to get out on his own."
Courtney slumped back against the tree, severe expression fading into a deep frown. Ever the nice guy, Geoff reached over and patted her shoulder, "Aw, don't worry, Court. I'm sure he'll be out soon."
"I hope you're right, Geoff," she replied, her posture only showing further misery. Ezekiel, contemplating taking another hot dog, asked, "So...since Duncan isn't here...what next, eh?"
"We wait for him," Courtney decided, with all the firmness the CIT could muster. "If he's just in for jailbreak, then it shouldn't take long..."
"Hey, have you seen the way Wustan courts operate?" DJ interjected with even more force than Courtney. "They'll take two weeks just to hold trial. Nuh-uh, can't wait for him."
The CIT collapsed forward, all personal hopes for reunion dashed. Damn it, if he hadn't gone after Mr. Blond...Geoff belched loudly right into her face and asked, "Well, that's outta the question. What else can we do?"
"Well, what were you doing before you met Duncan?" DJ asked. Bridgette looked up from her bread and said, "Trying to get through Tofino to find the sage."
"Well then, why not go back to Tofino?"
"Because that place sucks in every way possible," Courtney groaned, shuddering from the memories. "It stinks, its hard to get anywhere, there's water everywhere-"
"There's a channel that leads into the Black River just a bit east of here," DJ said, grinning. "And there's another channel that leads straight to Clearwater from there. Once we reach the coast line, it won't be hard to get around."
Bridgette stroked her chin. "Hmm...yeah, that sounds perfect. We can ask...wait, we?"
DJ blinked as four pairs of confused eyes turned to him. Then he sighed and looked down. "Yeah, we. Last night, the king received a report from Clearwater, the Tofinan capital. Apparently, someone's been bombing the coastal cities of Tofino for a couple of weeks now. I was supposed to lead the sixteenth division to help, but, well..."
"You decided we'd be a better choice," Courtney finished. When the gentle giant nodded, she asked, "But what about your squad?"
"They know. I told them that I'd be going with you guys. They've already gone on ahead." Courtney smirked at him. "Excellent. After losing Tyler, we need a bit more muscle in the group."
As she said that, she threw a rather reproachful look at Geoff, who couldn't even begin to think of what he'd done to earn her ire. No one else seemed to notice, however. Ezekiel said, "Well. Should we head to Tofino?"
"Just a minute...there's Bunny," DJ said, kneeling down to greet his friend. Courtney's command still burned brightly in his mind and was enough to keep him from calling the rabbit "Bunny-Wunny" or something equally cutesy. The rabbit hopped up onto his shoulder and, to the shock of all others present, appeared to whisper into DJ's ear. His ever-widening mouth slowly quashed any remaining hope that somehow Duncan would be able to join them. "Oh, wow. Murder, jailbreak, hijacking, resisting arrest, burglary...brother ain't never gettin' outta that."
"Think you can do this, Bridge?" Ezekiel called out, hunched over the ship's railing, face a bit green. They had just entered the Black River and its asteroid belt of ships. The river pushed them downstream at nearly double the boat's usual speed. In the distance, a plume of smoke rose from behind a hill. The surfer clung tightly to the wheel as she called back, "I think so. DJ'll have to tell me where the channel is, though."
"Don't worry, I gotcha," DJ assured her with a thumbs up. Next to him and directly opposite of Ezekiel, Courtney stretched and looked over at Bridgette. "Well, you seem to have this under control. I think I'm gonna go have a little chat with Geoff."
She scampered down below deck, leaving her three crew mates stunned at what seemed like entirely random harshness. Of course, in the mind of Courtney, Geoff had long since earned it. She stormed down into one of the sleeping quarters and boomed, "Alright, Geoff. Tell..."
She scanned the room, not seeing a single sign of the party boy on any of the three bunks. Damn it, this is supposed to be the guys' room...
"'Sup, Courtney?" Geoff asked from behind her. She jumped and nearly screamed. After calming down a bit, she went on the offensive, getting right into his face and snapping, "Tell me, Geoff. Will you actually be able to finish off Heather when we fight her?"
"Uh...I think so, yeah," Geoff mumbled, scratching behind his hat. "Why do you-"
"I ask because you clearly don't want to fight!" Courtney raged, spraying him. "DJ had to save us for the second time because you couldn't bear to hurt those soldiers. Never mind the fact that they were trying to arrest us—or worse. If DJ hadn't shown up, we would all be rotting in jail cells with Duncan!"
"I—well—there were a lot of them and—I kinda..." Geoff stammered, cowering away from the livid girl. She snarled and finished, "What you're trying to say is you're sorry and that you will actually use Enceladus when you need to. If not, than this little quest is doomed."
Still seething on the outside, although quite glad she had (hopefully) gotten the message across, Courtney whirled around to storm back outside and nearly trampled over Ezekiel. She rolled her eyes and asked as politely as she could, "What is it, Zeke?"
"Uh, well," the prairie boy stammered, nervously fiddling with one of his books. "My book's completely out of energy, eh. I just need to take a little from you guys and-"
"Run, Geoff!" Courtney screeched, turning back around and tripping over the sullen party boy. Scrambling for the door, she cried, "He's gonna drain you dry!"
"No! I just need a little, eh!"
"So. Where's the orb?"
At the snap of Heather's fingers, Izzy bounced on her heels and chirped, "Don't have it."
Scowling, Heather leaned forward and hissed, "What do you mean, you don't have it? I sent you to obtain it, little miss crazy. Why don't you have it? Unless...Owen?"
"Eh...uh...well," Owen stammered, scratching the back of his head. "I...I don't have it either, and I haven't eaten in days, so...have fun, Iz!"
"Bye, Owen," Izzy called, still grinning at the evil queen. As the elephantine teen rumbled down the stairs to the kitchen, Heather returned her glare to the other girl. "So we have no clue where the orb is-"
"Actually, I kinda do," Izzy interjected. As the queen's eyes softened a bit, words flew from the loon's mouth like machine-gunfire. "Yeah, our ship got set on fire and Mr. Blond was all like 'Imma kill you now' and he left the ship to fight Geoff while me and Owen escaped! Ooh, I forgot to tell you about this awesome dude we met-"
"Izzy," Heather snapped, ending her subordinate's babble. "The orb. What happened to the orb?"
"Oh, that thing. Either Geoff has it now or it's at the bottom of the ocean. But anyways-"
"What?" Heather yelled, startling the motormouth into silence. "You idiot! I don't just need Geoff not to get it, I need it!"
"Oh. Whoops."
"Argh!" Heather whirled away, pacing around in an angry march, clutching her forehead. "I'm surrounded by morons! I swear, the only guy here with any degree of competency is being useless right now, wasting his time in Tofino. You and Owen can't do the simplest of missions, Agent 12 won't respond..."
She paused, heaving and clenching her fist so tightly her fingers cut her palm. She seized a mug resting on the purple armrest of her throne and took a sip, splashing brown liquid onto her face. She immediately sprayed the drink onto the gray stone floor and roared, "And Lindsay screwed up my coffee! Again! Ooh, I'm so sick of you idiots..."
She fell silent after slamming the mug down on her throne's arm. She huffed for several long seconds, snarling at the offending ceramic cup. Izzy's grin had faded, but her eternal enthusiasm didn't seem dulled by the outburst. "So...what's so important about that orb?"
"I can't tell you y-"
"Ooh, I know! It's a crystal ball that will let you see anything anytime! You can watch Geoff and like make plans to stop him and stuff!"
"Izzy..."
"Or better yet! It's a powerful magic weapon thingy that will let you conquer the world!"
"Izzy!"
"Best yet, it could be used as a bowling ball!" Izzy cackled at the thought, but ceased as the rock around her bare feet turned to mush. Heather, pointing at the floor around where Izzy stood, growled. "Shut. Up."
"Kay." The ground became firm again and Izzy, slightly unnerved by Heather's spell, asked, "So...full mission report?"
Heather rolled her eyes and shrugged. "I guess. Might as well get something useful out of you. Just keep it short."
"Okay!" Her grin fully restored, Izzy bobbed on her heels again as she yammered away. "Okay, well, Geoff doesn't to like to fight, and Bridgette and that annoying CIT girl—I forget her name—can't fight. Seriously. Zeke, however, is so totally awesome! He can like shoot lightning out of his hands and make the ocean explode and other awesome stuff!"
"So they have a mage. Big freaking deal. Now tell me-"
"Ooh, ooh, I almost forgot! He can create like these cool magic wall things! Anything that hits them bounces off! You know what would be awesome? If he could set up a bunch of those and play pinball or something! Or better yet-"
"Better yet, zip it," Heather snapped, tracing a finger over Izzy's lips. A large metal zipper appeared out of thin air and followed her finger, zipping up Izzy's mouth and effectively silencing her. Izzy's muffled babbling continued as she tried to pry her mouth back open, but the zipper remained stuck in place. Finally she gave up and pouted, shooting Heather a sullen glare. The queen bee looked like she couldn't be more pleased with herself. "Well, there you go. Come back when you feel like being useful. I'll take the zipper off then."
Sulking, the crazy girl made her out of the throne room, mumbling muffled curses. Heather maintained her grin until the door shut. As soon as the heavy oak doors crashed together, she yowled and grabbed the coffee mug again. With all her strength, she flung the cup against the ground, shattering it and dousing her throne room in coffee. She hissed in her breaths, growling to herself. "Damn that stupid, frustrating, useless basket case! I swear, the way she babbles on and on....Lindsay! Beth! Get in here!"
She tapped her foot impatiently until the two servants arrived, one of them clearly annoyed. Beth grumbled, "What is it now, Your Majesty? I was just telling Lindsay about how Brady..."
"Shut up about your imaginary friend and sit on the throne! I need to talk to someone and I want my throne to be warm when I get back. And you!" She pointed at the blond, who cowered at the sudden attention. "Sweep up this mess and make me another cup of coffee."
Lindsay swallowed and choked out, "O-okay."
"Good. Now listen. If you screw up the coffee again or the throne isn't warm enough, both of you will spend the rest of the day in the dungeons. Capische?"
The two girls exchanged brief terrified glances before nodding in silence. Heather gave a dull murmur of approval as she headed out of the throne room. She stormed down the hall way to her full suite of a bedroom and plomped down on her bed. She reached over and took what seemed like an ordinary hand mirror from atop an ornate table. She glared down at her own reflection and growled, "Hey, you. Answer."
Several seconds of silence followed—longer than usual—and her brow furrowed. If he didn't respond...A voice came from the mirror, so sudden it made the queen of all that is evil jump. "You called, Your Majesty?"
"Yes, I did," she replied. She couldn't see who she was conversing with, or vice versa, but to her, that was only a plus. She found it much more relaxing to look at her own face than that of any of her minions—they did have a bad tendency to make her want to erase them from the world, and having to look at them while they made fools of themselves only magnified her anger. "Izzy and Owen screwed up, so I don't have the blue orb. If at all possible, track down Geoff and take it from him."
"Ah...just one little problem with that? Clearwater has been pretty much under attack for the last few weeks. Way too many explosions for me to stick around and risk injury."
"Explosions? Any idea who?" The man on the other end chuckled and said, "If I knew who was doing it, I would have dealt with them. As it stands..."
Damn it. Whoever is doing this is going to pay. "Fine. Leave. If you see Geoff, though..."
"I got it. Kill the Chosen One and take the orb if he has it. Anything else?"
"That's all. Over." The mirror fell silent, and Heather placed the mirror back on the table before laying back in her bed. A few minutes of rest, then off to deal with the two idiots...the twin doors burs open and Izzy appeared, holding a blank whiteboard and still wearing an oversized gold zipper on her lips. Heather sat up and shouted, "What do you want now?"
Izzy produced a marker and wrote something on the board. Heather leaned forward and read aloud, "'Bored'. You're here because you're bored? Get out!"
Izzy shook her head, smiling in spite of the heavy metal silencer, and scrawled something else. Heather rolled her eyes. "No, I'm not gonna go out and force home-school to join us."
The crazy girl slumped and resumed her scribbling. As words appeared on the board, Heather tried to keep up. "I don't care how awesome he is, he is not joining us! Why not? Maybe because I can do anything he can and do it...What do you mean, I'm not as cool as him? Argh, you're giving me a headache...WHAT? Why the hell are you asking me if my other minions seen...you know what? Figure out a point to get to, actually get there, and then leave. Or, preferably, just do the last step."
Unfortunately for Heather, the psycho apparently did have a point. She scrawled out another question, one that momentarily stunned Heather when she read it. "The...moon? You wanna go to the moon? For what?"
Izzy didn't even finish writing before the queen guessed it. "No. You are not using my minions to send you to the moon for a wild goose chase for...whatever the hell that is. If you can find a way up there yourself, fine, go. And I guess lardo can help. Now, get. Out. Of. Here."
Izzy smiled the best she could, dropped the board to the floor and clapped before racing out the door. Heather sighed and got up to follow her. Thanks to the insane one, she hadn't gotten any of the rest she'd wanted, but she decided she should still go back and check on Lindsay and Beth. She strode out of the room and through the halls. She threw open the doors with enough force to shake the very walls of Castle Discordia with their sound and glared at her two servants. In an instant, she knew that neither of them had done what was instructed of them. Coffee still covered the room, the plush cushion of the throne lay on the floor before the gilded chair, and the two girls sat on top of it in mid-gossip. They stared back at the queen without so much as breathing, sensing the ensuing burst of rage. Heather strode up to them and growled, "So, tell me. What was so important that neither of you did what I commanded, and how long should I make you waste away in the dungeon?"
"How is this possible..."
As a steamboat moved silently down a narrow channel, its occupants stared in amazement at the metropolis known as Clearwater spreading all around them. The outer rim of the city consisted of hundreds of huts floating on the ocean itself, kept in place by anchors and seemingly unaffected by the waves. All around their ship, one to two-man jet boats skirted around the channel. The only other ships of the steamboat's size were its escorts, two fully armed security vessels. The real marvel, however, lay ahead of them. A massive azure bulb, a water drop made of sapphire, rose out of the ocean, a short ways away from what looked like a port. Even at that distance, everyone could see the labyrinth of roads, stairs and entrances glimmering in the sunlight. At the top grew what appeared to be a forest of palm trees. From the steamboat's helm, Bridgette continued muttering. "Where'd...the technology..."
"Attention, visitors," the pilot of one of the escort ship boomed. Like the massive structure before them and the smaller ships all around, his turquoise ship glittered. While it in no way rivaled the majesty of the other...thing, it still had an impressive appearance. "We will be docking shortly. Considering the importance of the Chosen One's entourage, we will dock as close to the Clearwater metropolitan area as possible. Thank you for your cooperation."
"People live there?" DJ wondered aloud, just as taken aback by its size and beauty as his comrades."Man, I was thinking it was a palace or something..."
"Probably is," Geoff commented, not even looking at the monolith—he was focused on Bridgette's eyes, sparkling just like the palace. Looks like she's in heaven. "Place looks amazing."
Courtney and Ezekiel could only silently nod their agreement as they entered the Clearwater port, an expanse of crystal clear water nearly that dwarfed the entire city of Tuktoyuktuk. The security boats turned towards a far corner of the ocean, and Bridgette followed, murmuring, "I think I'm at home..."
The inside of Clearwater Cathedral, as it was known, was no less impressive than the outside. The deep blue halls wound their way through the construct, a curved maze that rocked on the waves just enough to remind its inhabitants that the palace sat upon the ocean but not so much that anyone felt even the slightest bit queasy. Light—not from torches, but from electric lamps—shimmered up and down as it rocked, reflecting off the curved walls and creating beautiful, wave-like patterns. As she moved towards the throne room, led by the same men who had directed their ship, Bridgette decided that the place was absolutely perfect for her. And yet, the people who lived there were dead silent, all wearing expressions of worry and suspicion as they watched Geoff's group. DJ's troop, having joined up with their commander after they'd docked, received slightly less unfriendly glances. Even their escorts were as tight-lipped as they could be, refusing to answer any of Geoff's excited inquiries. Bridgette sighed as they started up a massive flight of stairs, noting that even the stairs were rounded off at the edges. She was in the most beautiful place she'd ever seen, and she was being treated as an outcast, almost certainly because of the attacks DJ had mentioned. Why'd I have to come here during such a sober time?
"Ah, I'll assume you're the Chosen One?"
She jumped and nearly slipped on one of the rounded stairs as a jovial voice boomed from the top of the staircase. She looked up and saw a man clothed in deep blue robes, matching the rest of the palace. Thick brown hair covered much if his face and his robes partially concealed an overlarge gut. His green eyes sparkled down at Geoff, but the rest of face showed worry and melancholy. Still, he strode down the stairs and grasped Geoff's hand with both of his own for a firm shake. "How do you do, my friend?"
"Um...just fine, dude..." Geoff muttered, stunned by the sudden attention, as well as being called a friend by a total stranger. The man, several inches shorter than the party boy, gave a rich chuckle. "Oh, where are my manners? I am King Enke. Shall we move up to the throne room?"
"Uh...sure...du-I mean, Your Majesty," Geoff sputtered, even further shocked by Enke's royal status. Behind him, Courtney shook her head, mentally berating him for not being able to guess the short man was a king. Chris looked the part better, but he would never be able to match his Tofinan counterpart's rich voice and mannerisms. As they reached the top of the stairs, a tall teenager with tan skin and long brown hair pulled the door open. As they passed by in silence, Bridgette could have sworn the boy sneered at the group, but when she glanced back, a polite smile greeted her. The king, moving faster than anyone would have thought possible, strode into the next room and went straight to his bright blue throne. As he seated himself, he chuckled briefly and said, "Ah, it's been too long since I've had foreign guests...Alejandro! Go get them some chairs!"
The dark-skinned teen nodded and disappeared from the room without a word. Before anyone else could say anything, Enke asked, "So...what brings you here to my beautiful kingdom?"
Well, this part is okay, Courtney thought, but the rest of Tofino redefines horrible. Instead of voicing her opinion on the province, she decided to cut straight to the point. "Well, Your Majesty, we're looking for a sage and we heard that one lived in Tofino..."
The king smiled wider than ever, yet his mask of joy became even more obvious. "Ah, the sage! Such a brilliant boy. You know, he's almost entirely responsible for this part of Clearwater. Yes, we owe him so much. I swear, it's like he's from another world, the way his mind works."
"So, do you know where he is?" DJ asked, eyes bright and hopeful. As he asked that question, the facade of happiness Enke had wore all throughout the meeting vanished. He slumped back and said, "I'm sorry. As of two days ago, the sage has officially gone missing."
A/N: Okay, hopefully I'll be able to produce the next chapter a bit quicker. Oh, and don't expect a ton of action this arc.